Last December I was in the Logan airport waiting to board a plane to Salt Lake City. The desk attendants announced that the flight was overbooked and the asked for volunteers to be bumped to the next flight. I leapt to my feet, raced to the desk and apprised them of my willingness to be bumped. Regretfully, my actions were not motivated by a noble desire to help someone less fortunate. I just wanted the voucher for $750.

I waited patiently while the rest of the passengers boarded and was told that they needed to use my seat. I ended up getting the voucher and two meal coupons. They also paid for a hotel and put my on the next flight out early the following morning. For the past year I’ve been pondering the best way to use my voucher. I considered a trip to Spain, Florida, California or somewhere random for a spontaneous vacation. I decided to use it to fly home for Christmas. I got the tickets, valued at $472.50, at the airport this evening and was pleasantly surprised to get another voucher for the remaining $277.50, valid for another year.

The exit row was all that was left on the flight to Salt Lake, so there’s a chance that I could get bumped again this year. Even if I don’t, I still have more than enough on the voucher for another trip and as if that weren’t enough, the flight home will put me over 25,000 skymiles, which means that I can get a free round trip ticket. The moral of the story is if you ever have the opportunity, get bumped.